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Al-Ahram Weekly 15 - 21 April 1999 Issue No. 425 
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Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Al-Ahram Weekly 15 - 21 April 1999 Issue No. 425
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| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Egypt Region International Economy Opinion Culture Profile Features Travel Living Sports People Time Out Chronicles Cartoons Letters The five-minute match
By Abeer AnwarOnly four minutes had gone by in Friday's match when Zamalek's midfielder Ayman Abdel-Aziz was shown the red card for a tackle from behind. It was the penultimate game in the 1998-1999 football season and, as it turned out, the shortest match as well.
Zamalek players walked off the pitch to protest the call, leaving 40,000 spectators in Cairo Stadium and millions of TV viewers in Egypt and the Arab world bewildered to say the least.
Traditionally, Ahli-Zamalek derbies are viewed as a championship all of their own, but this particular match had no serious implication on the league standings. With just two matches remaining, Ahli, with 64 points to Zamalek's 50, had sealed the title long ago. The teams were just supposed to go through the motions. Or so it appeared.
The game began innocently enough. The two teams started cautiously and were unwilling to risk mounting serious attacks up front. In the fourth minute -- the players had hardly broken a sweat -- Ahli defender Ibrahim Hassan was brought down in midfield by a tackle from behind by Abdel-Aziz. French referee Marc Bata did not hesitate, instantly flashing the red card. Infuriated by the call, Zamalek coach Farouk Gafaar, as well as several players, angrily motioned for the rest of the team to leave the field. They did, remaining in their dressing room for several minutes. They then returned to the field, but only to salute Zamalek fans occupying one side of the stadium, before again returning to the dressing room. Following FIFA rules, Bata waited 10 minutes before calling the match off, to jeers and cheers from spectators.
Punitive measures from the Egyptian Football Federation came fast and sure. Zamalek were automatically declared the losers; the score would go down as a 2-0 victory for Ahli. Zamalek would also be fined LE150,000 and nine points would be deducted from their present total. In addition, Gafaar and Zamalek players Mohamed Sabri and Khaled El-Ghandour have been suspended pending an inquiry. Bata is to report to the Egyptian federation and FIFA explaining the incident.
Ahli and Zamalek matches were always unpredictable but not to the extent that they would end a few minutes after it had started photo: Mohamed Wassim
"It is the first time in my life that I have refereed a match like this," Bata said. "Throughout the world players are kicked out, yet the teams continue playing." Bata refereed the European Cup Winners Cup final in 1997 and took part in the 1994 and 1998 World Cups. Two years ago, he was behind the whistle during the final of the Egyptian cup in which Ismaili beat Ahli 1-0. Bata, 50, was the 38th foreigner to referee an Ahli-Zamalek match since the trend began in 1966.
"I think the red card was right and I don't see anything wrong in playing with 10 players," Ahli's German coach Reiner Tsobel said. "If the same thing happened to us, we would continue playing because you can play with 10 players and still win," Tsobel added.
"We could never have continued in a match like this," Gafaar told the press following the game. "Four minutes into the game we lost a player. What would have happened for the rest of the match? I think this was the right time to take a stand," he added.
Zamalek's president, Kamal Darwish, strongly disagreed, describing Gaafar's decision to pull out as the coach's own. "It has destroyed the image of Egyptian football nationally and internationally and damaged the reputation of a big team like Zamalek," Darwish said. Darwish had initially requested a rematch, saying Bata's poor performance in last year's World Cup in France dictated that the match be replayed.
Shortly following the match, Zamalek club was ringed by policemen and police cars. All the routes leading to the club were closed to prevent crowd disturbance.
The incident marks the third time Zamalek has walked out of a match and the second time against Ahli. In 1996, Zamalek quit in the second half after protesting a goal that the players argued was offside. .
